This invention relates to the field of printer driver preference systems. More particularly, this invention relates to apparatus and methods for transferring printer driver preferences across a network between client computers.
In the prior art, printer driver preferences are typically defined within an open file in an active application on a client computer, based upon the available print options for a currently chosen connected output device, such as a printer. The user selects from a varied list of selectable options within a printer driver preferences menu, pertaining to the file to be printed, and to the available options for the selected printer. Selected file specific options may be selected paper size (e.g., letter, legal, A4), reduction or enlargement, page orientation (e.g., vertical or horizontal), or font substitution. Specific printer options may be color quality, resolution enhancement, selected paper tray, and printing order.
The process of defining such printer driver preferences is typically complicated and time consuming, and has to be performed for most files to be printed (default printer driver preferences occasionally allow adequate printing of basic business documents, such as black and white text printing having a vertical orientation on letter size paper from a default paper tray).
In a work environment having more than one printer and more than one client computer, it is presently difficult and time consuming to define printer driver preferences repeatedly. A single user, having access to multiple client computers, commonly has to repeatedly configure one or more sets of printer driver preferences for each of the machines, even for the same document file. As well, for a business in which multiple users operate multiple client computers, there are often collaborative work projects which require a consistent format for portions of the project.
Russell et al. U.S. Pat. No. 5,611,046 (“Russell”) discloses a circuit board coupled to a printer for interfacing the printer to a LAN. A bi-directional printer interface on the board transmits print data to the printer and receives printer status data from the printer. A processor on the board executes both application programs and status and control programs. Although Russell discloses a circuit board to couple a printer to a LAN to permit the printer to be “responsive, intelligent member” of a network, there is no disclosure of a the transfer, translation, modification or reuse of sets of printer driver preferences.
Brindle et al. U.S. Pat. No. 5,475,801 discloses a network “wherein a plurality of independent computers having various page description languages (PDL's) interface with a central computer through a plurality of lines, a system allows the user or administrator of a computer on each line to elect whether the line shall have the property of persistence of a PDL for all jobs coming through the line, or whether a new PDL shall be activated as necessary depending on the particular line.”
Saulpaugh et al. U.S. Pat. No. 5,630,076 (“Saulpaugh”) and Kathail et al. U.S. Pat. No. 5,802,365 (“Kathail”) disclose a “method and mechanism for automatically correlating a device to its appropriate driver within a computer system utilizing candidate matching. A device tree indicating devices coupled to a computer system is available from an operating system. Within the device tree are device nodes which specify a particular device's name and a property which indicates compatible device names to the particular device. Drivers can include a data field indicating a driver name indicative of a corresponding device with which they operate. For a particular device, the system constructs a candidate list of drivers by comparing (1) the device name and 2) the compatible names from the device tree against all the driver names of data fields of known drivers.” Although Saulpaugh and Kathail disclose methods and mechanisms for automatically correlating a devices to their appropriate drivers within computer systems, they fail to disclose the reuse or transfer of drivers within a networked environment. As well, they fail to disclose any translation of one or more preferences between drivers.
Motoyama et al. U.S. Pat. No. 5,353,388 discloses a document processing system which “controls the printing of documents represented in page description language form. Documents are represented by a page description language which is structured so that definition and declaratory commands are positioned only at the beginning of each distinct document segment.”
Kageyama et al. U.S. Pat. No. 5,625,757 (“Kageyama”) discloses a printing system having a plurality of terminal equipment, a plurality of printers that can be shared by the terminal equipment, and one or more printer/spooler control servers for receiving a print from the terminal equipment, and for controlling the print job by a printer. The system also includes a distributed printing management server, for various errors that occur in the printers. Although Kageyama discloses a networked printing system, print jobs are transferred through the print server.
Barrett et al. U.S. Pat. No. 5,647,056 disclose a method and apparatus for interfacing a peripheral to a LAN with an interactive network board connected to the peripheral device. An access management program establishes direct communication between a network client and the network board. The board may also execute a peripheral server program such as a print server.
In some recent prior art systems (such as Printer Driver Model No. CLJ8500, from Hewlett Packard Corporation, of Palo Alto Calif.), within a single computer, a user can store and retrieve a set of printer driver preferences, for a single output device. Although the set of printer driver preferences is storable and retrievable, the defined set is specific to a particular printer, and to a particular computer. For example, from within a word processing program, a user can navigate to a printer driver set up interface, select options, save the selected options as a defined set, and save the defined set. Subsequently, the user may selectively retrieve the saved defined set of printer driver options, from a different file within the same application on the computer, or from another application on the same computer.
As a further example, a user may store a printer driver preference set for a document design, designating document specific options, and printer specific options to produce the document. Within the application in which the user creates the document design, upon creating a set of printer driver preferences, the user may save the settings (e.g., “My Document Settings”). The user may then retrieve those options within the same computer, and use the retrieved set to print a different file, such as a new document file, at the same destination printer.
However, there are currently no means by which one or more sets of printer driver preferences can be directly transferred or reused between client computers. It would be advantageous to provide a system by which a user can define a set of printer driver preferences at a first client computer, and then transfer the defined set of printer driver preferences across a network, such as to another client computer, a printer, a print server, or other network device. As well, it would be advantageous to selectively retrieve a set of printer driver preferences for a first printer, and use or modify the set, as necessary, as a set of printer driver preferences for a different printer.
When a user creates a set of printer driver preferences, such as for a type of printed document that the user commonly creates (e.g., a horizontal format transparency), the user often has to recreate the same set of printer driver preferences when creating another similar document. It would therefore be advantageous to reuse the same set of printer driver preferences. It also would be advantageous to provide a method to transfer printer driver preferences across a network, and provide a method to merge or modify transferred printer driver preferences, or to create new sets of transferable printer driver preferences. Although the disclosed prior art systems and methodologies provide basic printer driver preference systems, they fail to provide transferable, reusable, and modifiable sets of printer driver preferences. The development of such a transferable printer driver preference system would constitute a major technological advance.